Scoring breakdown

The Toorak tractor ploughs on. Despite the mud that anti-four-wheel-drive campaigners have tried flinging at luxury soft-roaders, little save that derogatory nickname seems to have stuck as car makers continue to reap profits from a fertile segment.

Globally and locally, sales of prestige soft-roaders - more popular on the school run than the outback trail - continue to sprout. So far this year, it is the fastest-growing category in Australia.

Audi and BMW are being forced to ramp up production for their mid-size SUVs, the Q5 and X3, to meet demand and upmarket brands such as Bentley, Jaguar and Maserati are all looking to cash in.

More luxury soft-roaders are being built and in increasingly smaller sizes. This comparison focuses on luxury SUVs that were the focus of vitriolic opposition from environmental groups and some sections of the public.

The vehicle that started it all in 1970, the Range Rover, isn't featured here - its $158,100 starting price precludes it from a group capped at $95,000. That also rules out the $108,700 Porsche Cayenne diesel, while the first of the modern-day crop, the Mercedes-Benz ML, wasn't available for testing and is to be replaced by an all-new model in the first half of next year.

So our field includes some usual suspects - the Audi Q7, BMW X5, Lexus RX and Volvo's evergreen XC90 - plus the freshly harvested, second-generation Volkswagen Touareg. Each has a 4WD system capable of dealing with bush trails, though their off-road pretensions are no more emphatically emphasised than by the consistent omission of standard full-size spare wheels. So our testing focused on where most owners would use posh high-riding wagons: the bitumen.